JP2010028090A - Processing equipment, conveyance control device, and conveyance control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide processing equipment which has a sufficient conveyance capability without being enlarged neither increasing the amount of an article in process and the lead time, and to provide a conveyance control method which shortens the cycle time as the whole of a processing apparatus in the case that the load of a conveyance destination of an object to be conveyed becomes higher, and provides a control method of a short operation processing time without increasing the data amount of operation processing neither requiring a large-scale operation processing apparatus even in a sheet conveyance line. <P>SOLUTION: In processing equipment wherein a plurality of conveyance routes exist among processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104, wait times of respective objects to be conveyed at respective points of time, load states of processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104 being conveyance destinations and conveyance sources, load states of entire conveyance areas of respective objects to be conveyed, and load states of conveyance means 106, 107 are weighted, and weights are varied in accordance with conditions in the conveyance areas to calculate priorities of conveyance processing, and which object to be conveyed should be conveyed and to which of processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104 it should be conveyed are determined to control the conveyance means 106, 107. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, when there are a plurality of transport routes of a transported object such as a substrate between a plurality of processing apparatuses, the processing facility having transport means for transporting the transported object on the transport route, and the processing facility The present invention relates to a transport control device and a transport control method for controlling a transport means.

  Conventionally, there are a plurality of conveyance routes with branching or merging of an object to be conveyed such as a substrate between a plurality of processing apparatuses, and the conveying means for conveying the object to be conveyed on the conveying route has one conveying means. However, there is a processing facility that supports a plurality of objects to be conveyed.

  As a processing facility for transporting an object to be transported on a transport route with such branching or merging, conventionally, in a building where processing devices are installed on each floor, each processing device has an elevator that moves up and down between the floors. In general, an article to be conveyed is conveyed for each cassette over the interval.

  In addition, as a processing facility for performing single-wafer transport for transporting objects to be transported such as substrates one by one, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, in a building where processing devices are installed on each floor, There has been proposed one that has an elevator that raises and lowers the object and conveys an object to be conveyed between the processing apparatuses.

  In addition, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, a multi-stage configuration including a single-wafer transport vehicle having a lifting function and a load port for delivering a transported object between the single-wafer transport vehicle and the processing apparatus. Treatment facilities have been proposed. In this processing facility, a space-saving layout in which processing devices are arranged vertically is also possible.

  Furthermore, as described in Patent Document 3, a single-wafer transport conveyor that can be transported continuously, and a storage shelf that is provided between the single-wafer transport conveyor and the processing apparatus and can store a transported object are provided. Treatment facilities have been proposed.

  In such a processing facility, in order to realize an efficient process, it is necessary to appropriately control the transfer means as to which processing object is transferred to which processing apparatus.

  As a conventional transport control method, the transport means transports according to the order of arrival at the transport means, the order reserved by the arrival time, the transport time and the waiting time, or the order scheduled in advance according to the load situation. It was a control method to do.

  For example, in Patent Document 4, in a facility in which an object to be transported can be carried into a processing apparatus through a plurality of transport paths, a transport steel plate stays in each facility by selecting the best operation schedule in a short time. As a technology to improve the operating efficiency of each processing facility by creating a minimum, and creating multiple schedules while correcting the malfunctions of the created schedules when creating the operation schedule of the transfer equipment provided on each transfer route In addition, there is described an operation scheduling apparatus for a transport apparatus that selects an optimum schedule from a plurality of schedules.

  Further, Patent Document 5 discloses scheduling of service means for performing a predetermined service based on a service request from each process in a multi-stage process for performing a predetermined process on an object to be transported. Technologies that enable scheduling with priority on efficiency have been proposed. In other words, the accumulated waiting time calculation unit calculates the accumulated waiting time for each process for each transported object, and then the allowable waiting time calculation unit issues a service request for each of the waiting service requests. A deviation between the processing time in the process being performed and the maximum value of the processing time for each process is obtained. Furthermore, a correction value is input according to, for example, the urgency level by the priority correction value input unit. And a priority calculation part calculates | requires a priority and selects one service request according to this priority.

  Furthermore, Patent Document 6 is based on a first-in first-out method in which processing is performed in the order in which workpieces arrive, and in a logistics control device such as a semiconductor factory where there is a problem that the construction period is not stable and the height is lowered, The difference between the current time, which is the processing end time in the previous logistics control unit, and the reference time calculated based on the planned processing time calculated from the ratio of the theoretical work period and the actual processing time is defined as the delay time. There is described a technique for stabilizing the work period of a product to be manufactured and the yield per unit time by processing with priority from the product having the longest delay time.

  Further, in Patent Document 7, in a process having a plurality of processes in which a material to be conveyed such as a material, a semi-finished product, a product or the like flows through several processes while selecting a route, processing in each current process and waiting to be conveyed Using the information on the number of objects and information on the object to be conveyed that can be conveyed to the next process within a predetermined time, a state equation is set to predict the number of materials in each process at the next time according to the conveyance command to the next process. The conveyance command value is obtained from a solution that minimizes the evaluation function related to the number of objects to be conveyed and the control command, and the conveyance command is issued for an object that is positive and larger than a predetermined value and the conveyance object can be conveyed. In particular, a distribution control method is described in which a conveyance command is output to an object having the largest conveyance command value at a branch point or an AC point of a route.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-022488 Japanese Patent No. 4209572 Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-167083 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-328112 JP 2000-033542 A JP-A-9-123041 Japanese Patent No. 3400851

  By the way, in the conventional processing equipment described above, in the conventional processing equipment for transporting every cassette, since the transport is not performed unless a certain number of objects to be transported are inserted into the cassette, the in-process amount increases or the lead time increases. There was a problem of becoming longer.

In addition, when the processing devices described in Patent Document 1 are arranged vertically, there is a problem that the number of times the elevator is transported increases because of the single-wafer transport, and the number of times of lifting and lowering is increased. is there.

  In addition, the multi-stage processing facility provided with the single wafer transport vehicle described in Patent Document 2 has a problem that the transport capability is limited by the capability of the single wafer transport vehicle, and further, a space for the load port. Therefore, there is a problem that the size is increased.

  Furthermore, in the processing equipment provided with the single-wafer transport conveyor described in Patent Document 3, a storage shelf is required before all the processing apparatuses, and the space for that is required, which increases the size. There's a problem.

  Further, in the conventional conveyance control method as described above, in the technique described in Patent Document 4 or Patent Document 5, the conveyance destination (processing order) of each object to be conveyed is determined in advance by scheduling. Therefore, even if the load of the transport destination of the transported object is high, the processing is performed in the determined transport order, and there is a possibility that the transported object may be jammed. It is difficult to shorten.

  Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 6 or Patent Document 7, particularly in a so-called single-wafer transport line that transports objects to be transported one by one, the amount of data that requires arithmetic processing becomes enormous. Therefore, due to the time required for the arithmetic processing, it is difficult to shorten the tact time as the processing device, and a large-scale device is required as the arithmetic processing device.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a processing facility capable of ensuring sufficient transport capacity without increasing the size, increasing the amount of work in progress, and increasing the lead time, and further It is possible to shorten the tact time as a whole of the processing equipment even when the load of the goods transport destination becomes high, and also increases the amount of data required for arithmetic processing in the so-called single wafer transport line. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transport control device and a transport control method that do not require a large-scale device as an arithmetic processing device and do not increase the time required for arithmetic processing.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention has any one of the following configurations.

[Configuration 1]
The processing facility according to the present invention includes a plurality of transport routes for a transported object between a plurality of processing apparatuses, and includes a plurality of transport means for transporting the transported object along the transport route. Between the plurality of conveying means and the plurality of conveying means, each of which is capable of conveying the object to be conveyed between a plurality of processing apparatuses. And a lifting / lowering unit having a function of lifting / lowering the object to be conveyed. The lifting / lowering unit has a buffer access function and can be used as a buffer before and after being loaded into the processing apparatus.

[Configuration 2]
In the processing facility according to the present invention, in the processing facility having the configuration 1, the processing apparatuses that perform continuous processing are arranged side by side corresponding to the same stage transport means, and are transported by the same stage transport means. An object is conveyed.

[Configuration 3]
In the processing facility according to the present invention, in the processing facility having the configuration 1, the processing devices assumed to have a large transport amount are arranged side by side corresponding to the transport means of the same stage, and the transport of the same stage The object is conveyed by the means.

[Configuration 4]
The transport control apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of transport routes for a transported object between a plurality of processing apparatuses, and has a plurality of transport means for transporting the transported object along the transport route. A transport control apparatus for controlling a transport means in a processing facility that supports a plurality of transport objects, comprising a control means for controlling each transport means, wherein the control means is a waiting time of each transport object at each time point , A predetermined weighting is applied to each of the load state of the transport destination processing device of each transported object and the load state of the entire transport area of each transported object, and the priority of transport processing of each transported object is calculated, Based on the calculation result, it is determined which one of the objects to be conveyed should be conveyed to which processing apparatus, and the conveying means is controlled based on this determination.

[Configuration 5]
The transfer control device according to the present invention is a transfer control device having configuration 4, wherein the control means further gives a predetermined weight to each of the load state of the transfer source processing apparatus and the load state of each transfer means for each object to be transferred. And the priority of the conveyance processing of each object to be conveyed is calculated.

[Configuration 6]
The transport control apparatus according to the present invention is a transport control apparatus having the configuration 4 or the configuration 5, wherein the control means registers one weighting pattern, and the value in the weighting pattern is set according to the situation in the transport area. And the weighting is varied.

[Configuration 7]
The transport control apparatus according to the present invention is a transport control apparatus having the configuration 4 or the configuration 5, wherein the control means registers a plurality of weighting patterns and selects the weighting pattern according to the situation in the transport area. Thus, the weighting is varied.

[Configuration 8]
The transport control method according to the present invention has a plurality of transport routes for a transported object between a plurality of processing apparatuses, and includes a plurality of transport means for transporting the transported object along the transport route. A transport control method for controlling a transport means in a processing facility that supports a plurality of transported objects, wherein the waiting time of each transported object at each time point, the load state of a transport destination processing apparatus of each transported object, and each Precise weighting is applied to each of the load states in the entire transport area of the transported object, the priority of transport processing of each transported object is calculated, and any transported object of each transported object is calculated based on the calculation result It is characterized in that it is determined to which processing apparatus an object is to be transported, and the transport means is controlled based on this determination.

[Configuration 9]
The transfer control method according to the present invention is a transfer control method having configuration 8, and further performs a predetermined weighting on each of the load state of the transfer source processing device and the load state of each transfer means for each transferred object, The priority of the conveyance process of a to-be-conveyed object is calculated.

[Configuration 10]
In the transport control method according to the present invention, in the transport control method having the configuration 8 or the configuration 9, one weighting pattern is registered, and the value inside the weighting pattern is changed according to the situation in the transport area. The weighting is varied.

[Configuration 11]
In the transport control method according to the present invention, in the transport control method having the configuration 8 or the configuration 9, a plurality of weighting patterns are registered, the weighting pattern is selected according to the situation in the transport area, and the weighting is performed. It is characterized by changing.

  In the processing facility according to the present invention having the configuration 1, each of the transported objects can be transported between a plurality of processing apparatuses, and a plurality of transport means arranged in multiple stages and a plurality of transport means are spanned. Elevating means having a function to elevate the object to be conveyed, and the elevating means has a buffer access function and can be used as a buffer before and after being loaded into the processing apparatus. The amount can be reduced, the lead time can be reduced, the space can be saved, and the moving distance by the elevating means can be shortened, so that the energy can be saved. Furthermore, since the lifting / lowering means has a buffer access function, it is possible to absorb the pulsation of the transport process even when it is stopped due to maintenance or the like.

  In the processing facility according to the present invention having the configuration 2, the processing apparatuses that perform continuous processing are arranged side by side corresponding to the same stage transport means, and transport the object to be transported by the same stage transport means. Therefore, the in-process amount can be reduced and the lead time can be reduced.

  In the processing facility according to the present invention having the configuration 3, the processing apparatuses that are assumed to have a large transport amount are arranged side by side corresponding to the transport means of the same stage, and are covered by the transport means of the same stage. Since the conveyed product is conveyed, the in-process amount can be reduced and the lead time can be reduced.

  In the transport control apparatus according to the present invention having the configuration 4, the control means includes a standby time of each transported object at each time point, a load state of the transport destination processing apparatus of each transported object, and a transport area of each transported object Predetermined weighting is applied to each of the overall load conditions, and the priority of transport processing for each transported object is calculated, so the frequency of occurrence of traffic jams can be reduced, and overall efficient transport can be realized and transported. The total tact time in the area can be shortened.

  In the transport control device according to the present invention having the configuration 5, the control unit further performs predetermined weighting on each of the load state of the transport source processing device and the load state of each transport unit of each transported object, Since the priority of the conveyance processing of the object to be conveyed is calculated, it is possible to reduce the frequency of occurrence of traffic jams, realize efficient conveyance as a whole, and shorten the total tact time in the conveyance area.

  In the transport control apparatus according to the present invention having the configuration 6, the control means registers one weighting pattern, and varies the value in the weighting pattern according to the situation in the transport area, thereby varying the weighting. Therefore, it is possible to select the optimal transport instruction according to the state in the transport area, and to reduce the frequency of occurrence of traffic jams, so that overall efficient transport is realized and the total tact time in the transport area Can be shortened.

  In the transport control apparatus according to the present invention having the configuration 7, the control means registers a plurality of weighting patterns, selects the weighting pattern according to the situation in the transport area, and varies the weighting. The optimal transport instruction according to the condition in the area can be selected and the frequency of occurrence of traffic jams can be reduced, realizing efficient transport overall and shortening the total tact time in the transport area. Can be planned.

  In the transport control method according to the present invention having configuration 8, the waiting time of each transported object at each time point, the load state of the transport destination processing device of each transported object, and the load state of the entire transport area of each transported object Each of these items is given a predetermined weight, and the priority of transport processing for each transported object is calculated, so the frequency of occurrence of traffic congestion can be reduced, and overall efficient transport can be realized, The tact time can be shortened.

  In the transfer control method according to the present invention having the configuration 9, the load state of the transfer source processing apparatus and the load state of each transfer means for each transfer object are also given a predetermined weight, Since the priority of the transport process is calculated, it is possible to reduce the frequency of occurrence of traffic jams, to realize efficient transport as a whole, and to shorten the total tact time in the transport area.

  In the transport control method according to the present invention having the configuration 10, since one weighting pattern is registered and the value in the weighting pattern is changed in accordance with the situation in the transport area, the weight is changed. It is possible to select the most suitable transport instruction according to the state of the vehicle and reduce the frequency of occurrence of traffic jams, so that overall efficient transport is realized and the total tact time in the transport area is shortened. be able to.

  In the transport control method according to the present invention having the configuration 11, since a plurality of weighting patterns are registered and the weighting pattern is selected according to the situation in the transport area and the weight is changed, the state in the transport area is It is possible to select an optimal transport instruction according to the traffic and reduce the frequency of occurrence of traffic jams, so that overall efficient transport can be realized and overall tact time in the transport area can be shortened. .

  That is, the present invention provides a processing facility that can ensure sufficient transport capacity without increasing the size, increasing the amount of work in progress, and increasing the lead time, and further It is possible to shorten the tact time as a whole of the processing equipment even when the load of the goods transport destination becomes high, and also increases the amount of data required for arithmetic processing in the so-called single wafer transport line. Therefore, it is possible to provide a transport control device and a transport control method that do not require a large-scale device as the arithmetic processing device and do not increase the time required for the arithmetic processing.

It is a side view showing composition in a 1st embodiment of processing equipment concerning the present invention. It is a side view which shows the structure in 2nd Embodiment of the processing equipment which concerns on this invention. It is a side view which shows the structure in 3rd Embodiment of the processing equipment which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the processing facility with which the conveyance control method concerning this invention is implemented. It is the top view (a) and side view (b) which show the structure of the processing equipment with which the conveyance control apparatus concerning this invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conveyance control apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the instruction | indication management part of the conveyance control apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the optimization process in the conveyance control apparatus which concerns on this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First embodiment of processing equipment]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing the configuration of the processing facility according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the processing facility according to the present invention has a plurality of transport routes for a transported object between a plurality of processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, and 104, and becomes a transported object along the transport route. Conveyors with fork functions (FCV) 107a, 107b, 107c, and 107d serving as a plurality of conveying means for conveying the substrate 111, and a plurality of substrates 111 are associated with the conveyors with fork functions 107a, 107b, 107c, and 107d. It is a processing facility.

  In this processing facility, the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104 and the fork function-equipped conveyors 107a, 107b, 107c, 107d are installed in multiple stages. In the processing facility shown in FIG. 4, the first processing apparatus 101 and the third processing apparatus 103 are installed on the upper stage, and the second processing apparatus 102 and the fourth processing apparatus 104 are installed on the lower stage. The first to third fork function conveyors 107a, 107b, 107c are installed in the upper stage, and the fourth and fifth fork function conveyors 107d, 107e are installed in the lower stage.

  In this processing facility, the substrate 111 is carried from the outside of the process through the carry-in conveyor 106a to the first fork function-equipped conveyor 107a. The first fork function-equipped conveyor 107 a can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the first processing apparatus 101. Between the first fork function conveyor 107a and the second and fourth fork function conveyors 107b and 107d, a first conveyor (vertical CV, lifter) having a vertical conveying (elevating) function as an elevating means. 108) is installed.

  The fourth fork function conveyor 107d can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the second processing apparatus 102. Between the second and fourth fork function conveyors 107b and 107d and the third and fifth fork function conveyors 107c and 107e, a second conveyor 109 with a vertical conveyance function is installed.

  The third fork function conveyor 107c can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the third processing apparatus 103. Further, the fifth fork function conveyor 107e can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the fourth processing apparatus 104. A third conveyor 110 with a vertical conveyance function is installed between the third and fifth conveyors 107c and 107e with a fork function and the carry-out conveyor 106b that carries the substrate 111 out of the process.

  In this processing facility, the first and second conveyors 108 and 109 with a vertical transfer function have a buffer access function, and can be used as buffers before and after being loaded into the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, and 104. That is, the first and second conveyors 108 and 109 with the vertical transfer function can temporarily retain the substrate 111 until it is transferred from one of the processing apparatuses to the next processing apparatus.

  In this processing facility, it is possible to arrange processing apparatuses for performing continuous processing side by side so as to correspond to the same level of fork function conveyor, and to transport the substrate 111 by the same level of fork function conveyor. preferable. By arranging the processing devices in this way, the amount of work in progress can be reduced, and the lead time can be reduced.

  Further, in this processing facility, the processing devices that are assumed to have a large transport amount are arranged side by side corresponding to the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage, and the substrate 111 is transported by the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage. It is preferable to do so. By arranging the processing devices in this way, the amount of work in progress can be reduced, and the lead time can be reduced.

  In this processing equipment, the substrate 111 carried in by the carry-in conveyor 106a is transferred to any processing apparatus 101, 102, 103 by the respective conveyors 107a, 107b, 107c, 107d with fork functions and the conveyors 108, 109 with vertical conveyance functions. , 104 and can be unloaded from each processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104. The substrate 111 is subjected to predetermined processing (inspection) in each processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104. Each of the conveyors 108 and 109 with a vertical transfer function can move up and down as necessary, such as branching of a transfer route, and can transfer the substrate 111 to the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage or other stages.

[Second Embodiment of Processing Facility]
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the processing facility according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the processing facility according to the present invention can be configured such that the carry-in port and the carry-out port of the substrate 111 are on the same side. That is, in this processing facility, the first to third processing apparatuses 101, 102, and 103 are installed in the upper stage, and the fourth to sixth processing apparatuses 104, 115, and 116 are installed in the lower stage. The first to third fork function conveyors 107a, 107b, and 107c are installed in the upper stage, and the fourth to sixth fork function conveyors 107d, 107e, and 107f are installed in the lower stage.

  In this processing facility, the substrate 111 is carried into the first conveyor 107a with a fork function from outside the process. The substrate 111 is carried out of the process from the sixth fork function-equipped conveyor 107f.

  The first fork function conveyor 107a can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the first processing apparatus 101. Further, the second fork function conveyor 107b can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the second processing apparatus 102. The third fork function conveyor 107c can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the third processing apparatus 103. The fourth fork function conveyor 107d can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the fourth processing apparatus 104. The fifth fork function conveyor 107e can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the fifth processing apparatus 115. The sixth fork function conveyor 107f can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the sixth processing apparatus 116.

  Between the first and sixth fork function conveyors 107a and 107f and the second and fifth fork function conveyors 107b and 107e, a first conveyor 108 with a vertical conveyance function is installed.

  Further, a second conveyor 109 with a vertical conveying function is installed between the second and fifth fork function conveyors 107b and 107e and the third and fourth fork function conveyors 107c and 107d. . Further, a third conveyor 110 with a vertical conveying function is installed on the terminal side of the third and fourth conveyors 107c and 107d with a fork function.

  In this processing facility, the first to third conveyors 108, 109, and 110 having a vertical transfer function have a buffer access function, and buffers before and after being loaded into the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, and 116, respectively. Is available as

  In this processing facility, it is possible to arrange processing apparatuses for performing continuous processing side by side so as to correspond to the same level of fork function conveyor, and to transport the substrate 111 by the same level of fork function conveyor. preferable. By arranging the processing devices in this way, the amount of work in progress can be reduced, and the lead time can be reduced.

  Further, in this processing facility, the processing devices that are assumed to have a large transport amount are arranged side by side corresponding to the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage, and the substrate 111 is transported by the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage. It is preferable to do so. By arranging the processing devices in this way, the amount of work in progress can be reduced, and the lead time can be reduced.

  In this processing facility, the substrate 111 loaded into the first fork function conveyor 107a is transferred to the fork function conveyors 107a, 107b, 107c, 107d, 107e, 107f and the vertical transfer function conveyors 108, 109, 110. By the above, it can be transported to any processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, 116, and can be unloaded from each processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, 116. The substrate 111 is subjected to predetermined processing (inspection) in each processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, 116. Each of the conveyors 108, 109, and 110 with the vertical transfer function can move up and down as necessary, such as branching of the transfer route, and can transfer the substrate 111 to the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage or other stages.

[Third embodiment of processing equipment]
FIG. 3 is a side view showing the configuration of the processing facility according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the processing facility according to the present invention can be configured by arranging each processing device and a plurality of conveyors with fork functions in three stages. That is, in this processing facility, the first and second processing apparatuses 101 and 102 are installed in the upper stage, the third and fourth processing apparatuses 103 and 104 are installed in the middle stage, and the fifth and sixth processing apparatuses. 115 and 116 are installed in the lower stage. The first to third fork function conveyors 107a, 107b and 107c are installed in the upper stage, the fourth to sixth conveyors with fork function 107d, 107e and 107f are installed in the middle stage, and the seventh to ninth conveyors are installed. Conveyors 107g, 107h, and 107i with fork functions are installed in the lower stage.

  In this processing facility, the substrate 111 is carried into the first conveyor 107a with a fork function from outside the process. The substrate 111 is carried out of the process from the fourth or seventh fork function conveyors 107d and 107g.

  The first fork function conveyor 107a can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the first processing apparatus 101. Further, the second fork function conveyor 107b can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the second processing apparatus 102. The fourth fork function conveyor 107d can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the fourth processing apparatus 104. The sixth fork function conveyor 107f can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the third processing apparatus 103. The eighth fork function conveyor 107h can transfer the substrate 111 to and from the fifth processing apparatus 115. The ninth fork function-equipped conveyor 107i can deliver the substrate 111 to and from the sixth processing apparatus 116.

  Between the first, fourth and seventh fork function conveyors 107a, 107d and 107g and the second, fifth and eighth fork function conveyors 107b, 107e and 107h, the first vertical transfer function An attached conveyor 108 is installed.

  In addition, the second vertical, fifth, and eighth fork function conveyors 107b, 107e, and 107h and the third, sixth, and ninth fork function conveyors 107c, 107f, and 107i are provided between the second vertical A conveyor 109 with a transfer function is installed. Further, a third conveyor 110 with a vertical conveying function is installed on the terminal side of the third, sixth, and ninth fork function conveyors 107c, 107f, and 107i. Furthermore, the conveyor 112 with a 1st carrying in / out vertical conveyance function is installed in the start end side (carrying-in entrance and carrying-out exit) of the 1st, 4th, and 7th conveyors 107a, 107d, and 107g.

  In this processing facility, the first to third conveyors 108, 109, and 110 having a vertical transfer function have a buffer access function, and buffers before and after being loaded into the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, and 116, respectively. Is available as

  In this processing facility, it is possible to arrange processing apparatuses for performing continuous processing side by side so as to correspond to the same level of fork function conveyor, and to transport the substrate 111 by the same level of fork function conveyor. preferable. By arranging the processing devices in this way, the amount of work in progress can be reduced, and the lead time can be reduced.

  Further, in this processing facility, the processing devices that are assumed to have a large transport amount are arranged side by side corresponding to the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage, and the substrate 111 is transported by the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage. It is preferable to do so. By arranging the processing devices in this way, the amount of work in progress can be reduced, and the lead time can be reduced.

  In this processing facility, the substrate 111 carried into the first conveyor with fork function 107a is provided with each of the conveyors with fork function 107a, 107b, 107c, 107d, 107e, 107f, 107g, 107h, 107i and with each vertical transfer function. The conveyors 108, 109, and 110 can be conveyed to arbitrary processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, and 116, and can be unloaded from the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, and 116. . The substrate 111 is subjected to predetermined processing (inspection) in each processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104, 115, 116. Each of the conveyors 108, 109, and 110 with the vertical transfer function can move up and down as necessary, such as branching of the transfer route, and can transfer the substrate 111 to the conveyor with the fork function at the same stage or other stages.

[Embodiment of conveyance control method]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a processing facility in which the transport control method according to the present invention is implemented.

  In the transport control method according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, there are a plurality of transport routes of the transported object between the plurality of processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, and 104, and the transported object is transported along the transport route. Conveying control for controlling the conveying means in a processing facility having a plurality of conveying means for carrying and a plurality of objects to be conveyed corresponding to one conveying means, for example, in the processing equipment according to the present invention described above Is the method.

  Such a processing facility is based on transfer information between the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, and 104 (process A, process B, process C, and process D) acquired from the host system (for example, objects to be transferred in the line (for example, FPD, glass substrates used for semiconductors, etc.) are sequentially conveyed between the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104. The transfer control method according to the present invention improves transfer efficiency in such a processing facility.

  In such a processing facility, the object to be transported that is input to the entrance / exit 105 is sequentially transported to the respective processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104, subjected to predetermined processing, and returned to the entrance / exit 105 again. However, in this processing facility, the processing apparatus (process) to be transported next may be changed depending on the processing result (for example, the inspection result) in each processing apparatus. Further, in this processing facility, the object to be transferred may be transferred to the same processing device (for example, an inspection device) a plurality of times, so that there is a branch or merging in the transfer route between the processing devices. There are many.

  The conveyance control method according to the present invention is particularly suitable for application to a single-wafer conveyance line that conveys objects to be conveyed one by one. This is because in the single wafer transfer line, the number of objects to be transferred simultaneously is enormous, and control becomes extremely difficult depending on the conventional transfer control method.

[Configuration of transport control device]
FIG. 5 is a plan view (a) and a side view (b) showing the configuration of the processing equipment to which the transfer control device according to the present invention is applied.

  In the processing facility to which the transfer control device according to the present invention is applied, for example, as shown in (a) in FIG. 5, from port A, port B, port C, port D, and port E serving as the entrance / exit 105, The transported object is loaded. The objects to be conveyed are conveyed between the plurality of processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, and 104 by conveyors 106 and 107 serving as conveying means.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (b), the conveyor 107 conveys the object to be conveyed horizontally and transfers the object to be conveyed with the processing devices 101, 102, 103, 104 (fork function conveyor) FCV) 107 and conveyors (vertical CV) 108, 109, 110 with a vertical conveyance (lifting / lowering) function. The conveyors 108, 109, and 110 with a vertical conveyance function have a buffer access function.

  In this processing facility, the processing device 101 of the process A and the processing device 104 of the process D are stacked one above the other, and the processing device 102 of the process B and the processing device 103 of the process C are stacked one on top of the other. Are arranged. Each of these processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104 is installed to face a conveyor with a fork function (FCV). A conveyor 108 with a vertical transfer function is provided between the beginning and end of the line, the processing device 101 for process A, the processing device 104 for process D, the processing device 102 for process B, and the processing device 103 for process C, respectively. 109 and 110 are installed. These conveyors 108, 109, and 110 with a vertical conveyance function are installed facing the conveyor with a vertical conveyance function (vertical CV). These conveyors 108, 109, and 110 with a vertical conveyance function are places where the objects to be conveyed are temporarily retained until they are conveyed from one of the processing apparatuses to the next processing apparatus.

  In this processing facility, the conveyors 106 and 107 are controlled by the transport control device according to the present invention, so that each object to be transported is each processing device 101, 102, 103, 104 and each conveyor 108 with a vertical transport function. , 109, 110, and is subjected to predetermined processing (inspection) in each processing apparatus 101, 102, 103, 104.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the transport control apparatus according to the present invention.

  The transport control apparatus according to the present invention has a control means 1 for controlling the transport means 106 and 107 as shown in FIG. The control unit 1 includes a process management unit 2 that receives conveyance information between processes from the host system 201. The process management unit 2 creates conveyance instruction information between the processing apparatuses in the conveyance area of the object to be conveyed, and accumulates it in the conveyance instruction unit 3. The conveyance instruction information accumulated in the conveyance instruction unit 3 is read by the instruction management unit 4 and sent to the facility management unit 5.

  On the other hand, operation result information and device state information (tracking data) are sent from each of the transfer means 106 and 107, and stored in the equipment state unit (tracking data DB) 6 through the equipment management unit 5. The operation result information and the device state information accumulated in the equipment state unit 6 are read by the instruction management unit 4 and used for generating the conveyance instruction information.

  The equipment management unit 5 that has received the transport instruction information generates operation instruction information for controlling the transport means 106 and 107 based on the transport instruction information, and sends the operation instruction information to the transport means 106 and 107. Each transport means 106 and 107 operates under the control of the operation instruction information.

  In this transport control device, the instruction management unit 4 calculates the priority of processing of the transported object in generating the transport instruction information, and among the plurality of transported objects, which transported object is assigned to which processing apparatus. Optimize whether it should be transported.

  In this optimization process, when calculating the priority of the processing of the object to be transported, a plurality of items for determining the priority are extracted from the operation result information and the device status information of the transport means 106 and 107, and these items are extracted. A weight is set for each. As for the setting of weighting, one pattern is registered and is changed according to the situation in the transport area. Also, a plurality of patterns may be registered, and the patterns may be selected according to the situation in the transport area.

That is, the instruction management unit 4 waits for each transported object at each time point, the load state of the transport destination processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104 of each transported object, the transport source processing apparatus 101 of each transported object, Each of the load states 102, 103, and 104, the entire load state in the transport area of each object to be transported, and the load state of each transport means is given a predetermined weight, and the weight is varied according to the situation in the transport area. The priority of the transport process for each transported object is calculated. Then, based on the calculation result, the instruction management unit 4 determines which of the objects to be transported should be transported to which of the processing apparatuses 101, 102, 103, and 104. Based on this, the transport means 106 and 107 are controlled [operation of the transport control device (transport control method)].
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the instruction management unit of the transport control apparatus according to the present invention.

  In this transport control apparatus, the instruction management unit 4 executes the process shown in FIG.

  In step st1, the operation result information and the device state information accumulated in the equipment state unit 6 are confirmed, and the process proceeds to step st2. In step st2, it is determined whether or not there is a transported object that has been processed. If there is a transported object for which processing has been completed, the process proceeds to step st9, and if there is no transported object for which processing has been completed, the process proceeds to step st3. In step st9, the status information of the transported object for which the transport instruction is completed is changed to “completed”, and the process proceeds to step st3.

  In step st3, the presence / absence of a waiting transported object is determined. If there is a waiting transported object, the process proceeds to step st4, and if there is no waiting transported object, the process proceeds to step st13 to end the process.

  In step st4, the states of the conveying means 106 and 107 are confirmed, and the process proceeds to step st5. In step st5, it is determined whether or not the conveyance means 106 and 107 need to be optimized. If optimization is necessary, the process proceeds to step st10, and if optimization is not necessary, the process proceeds to step st6.

  In step st10, optimization is performed, and the process proceeds to step st11. As will be described later, this optimization is performed by extracting a plurality of items for determining the priority from the operation result information and the device state information of the transport means 106 and 107, and setting a weight for each item. In step st11, the transport destination in the transport instruction information is changed, and the process proceeds to step st6.

  In step st6, the conveyance destination in the work command for the moving means 106, 107 is determined, and the process proceeds to step st7. In step st7, a work command for the moving means 106 and 107 is created, and the process proceeds to step st8.

  In step st8, it is determined whether or not the conveyance instruction information is on standby. If it is in standby, the process proceeds to step st12. If it is not in standby, the process proceeds to step st13 and the process is terminated.

  In step st12, the status information of the object to be conveyed for which the conveyance instruction has been started is changed to “during conveyance”, and the process proceeds to step st13 to end the process.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an optimization process in the transport control apparatus according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the optimization request described above is received in step st21, the optimization process proceeds to step st22 to read various information data. Next, the process proceeds to step st23, and each transport instruction for the target transport means 106, 107 is extracted. Then, the process proceeds to step st24 to confirm whether or not the conveyance instruction can be executed.

  If the conveyance instruction can be executed, the process proceeds to step st25, and the conveyance destination in the conveyance instruction is provisionally determined. Next, proceeding to step st26, the priority of the conveyance instruction is calculated. Next, proceeding to step st27, a conveyance instruction to be executed is selected. Then, the process proceeds to step st28, a conveyance instruction to be executed is output, and the process ends.

As shown in [Table 1] below, the priority is calculated by assigning a weight to the priority for each item, and calculating according to this weight.

  That is, for each lot, the priorities of the lots that have been processed first are set higher, and the weight is set to “large”. Thereby, preferential processing is performed for each lot. Within the same lot, it has the same priority. It can also be applied to emergency lots. Also, regarding the transport destination, the priority is higher for the processing device rather than the buffer, and the weight is set to “large”. As a result, it is selected that the buffer should be used as little as possible.

  As for the waiting time of the conveyed object, the priority is set higher as the waiting time is longer, and the weight is set to “large”. The case of saving to the buffer is not considered. This is because overtaking is impossible.

  And about the acceptance possible state of a conveyance destination apparatus and the conveyance destination CV, a priority is made high, so that there are many, and weighting is set to "medium". Thereby, the load state of the front apparatus is confirmed. When there are a plurality of devices that can be accepted, the total load state of each device is used. If the transport destination is the same, it has the same priority.

  In addition, regarding the acceptability states of the transport source device and the transport source CV, the smaller the number, the higher the priority and the weighting is “medium”. Thereby, the load state of the rear device is confirmed. When there are a plurality of devices that can be accepted, the total load state of each device is used. If the transport source is the same, the priority is the same.

  As for the number of evacuation to the buffer, if the object to be transported is in the buffer, the higher the priority, the lower the influence because it can be overtaken, so the weight is set to “small”. Further, when the object to be conveyed is in the CV, the priority is lowered as the number increases, and the influence can be reduced because the overtaking can be performed, so the weight is set to “small”.

  As for the time required for transport by the transport means, the shorter the priority, the higher the priority and the smaller the weight. Thereby, the time required for the conveyance process is managed. It should be noted that the required time does not change so much from the CV and the buffer.

  The order of unloading from the cassette is not particular to the order of unloading from the cassette. To do.

  As for the priority condition of the entire line, as shown in [Table 2] below, the greater the number of objects to be conveyed in the process, the higher the priority in the unloading direction, and the weighting is “large”. To do. This takes into account the overall flow of the line and prevents traffic jams and deadlocks.

As for the transport command status of other transport means, the priority becomes higher as the allocation becomes smaller, and the weight is set to “medium”. This takes into account the overall flow of the line and prevents traffic jams and deadlocks. Note that there is no need to consider when there is no other conveying means on both sides.

Further, when the weighting is changed, as shown in [Table 4] below, the weighting is changed according to the state of the line when the priority is calculated.

When selecting weights from a plurality of patterns, as shown in [Table 5] below, an appropriate weighting pattern is selected according to the line status at the time of calculating the priority.

The priority is calculated as follows. When the weight is fixed and when the weight is changed, the weight is obtained from the table, and the priority is calculated by the following equation.
[Priority of transport instructions]
= [Priority calculation item 1] × [Weight 1]
+ [Priority calculation item 2] x [weight 2]
+ ...
+ [Priority calculation item N] x [weight N]

When weighting is selected from a plurality of patterns, the weighting pattern is selected from the weighting table according to the state in the process, and the priority is calculated by the following equation.
[Priority of transport instructions]
= [Priority calculation item 1] × [Weight pattern N-1]
+ [Priority calculation item 2] × [weighting pattern N-2]
+ ...
+ [Priority calculation item N] × [weighting pattern NN]

  Note that, as described above, the priority calculation item examples include the load on the transfer destination process apparatus, the waiting time of the transferred object, the number of transferred objects in the process, and the like.

  The present invention relates to a transport control device and a transport control method for controlling a transport unit that transports a transported object on the transport route when there are a plurality of transport routes of the transported object between a plurality of processing apparatuses. Applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control means 2 Process management part 3 Conveyance instruction part 4 Instruction management part 5 Equipment management part 6 Equipment state part 102 Processing apparatus (process B)
103 Processing device (Process C)
104 Processing device (Process D)
106 Conveying means 107 Conveying means

Claims (11)

There are a plurality of transport routes of the transported object between the plurality of processing apparatuses, and there are a plurality of transport means for transporting the transported object along the transport route, and a plurality of transported objects are associated with one transport means. Processing equipment,
A plurality of conveying means arranged in multiple stages, each capable of conveying an object to be conveyed between a plurality of processing apparatuses;
Elevating means having a function of elevating the object to be conveyed between the plurality of conveying means,
The processing means characterized in that the elevating means has a buffer access function and can be used as a buffer before and after being loaded into the processing apparatus. 2. The processing according to claim 1, wherein the processing devices that perform continuous processing are arranged side by side corresponding to the same stage transport means, and the object to be transported is transported by the same stage transport means. Facility. The processing apparatus that is assumed to have a large transport amount is arranged side by side corresponding to the transport means of the same stage, and the object to be transported is transported by the transport means of the same stage. The processing facility according to 1. There are multiple transport routes for transported objects between multiple processing devices, and there are multiple transport means for transporting the transported objects along the transport route, and multiple transport objects correspond to one transport means. In the processing facility, a transfer control device for controlling the transfer means,
A control means for controlling each of the conveying means;
The control means assigns predetermined weights to the standby time of each transported object at each time point, the load state of the transport destination processing device of each transported object, and the load state of the entire transport area of each transported object. To determine the priority of the transport process of each transported object, determine which transported object of each transported object to be transported to which processing apparatus based on the calculation result, The conveyance control apparatus characterized by controlling the conveyance means based on this determination. The control means further performs a predetermined weighting on each of the load state of the transfer source processing apparatus and the load state of each transfer means for each transfer object, and calculates the priority of transfer processing of each transfer object The conveyance control device according to claim 4, wherein: 5. The control unit according to claim 4, wherein the control unit registers one weighting pattern, and varies a value in the weighting pattern according to a situation in the transport area, thereby varying the weighting. 5. The conveyance control device according to 5. 6. The control unit according to claim 4, wherein the control unit registers a plurality of weighting patterns, selects the weighting pattern according to a situation in the transport area, and varies the weighting. 6. Transport control device. There are multiple transport routes for transported objects between multiple processing devices, and there are multiple transport means for transporting the transported objects along the transport route, and multiple transport objects correspond to one transport means. In the processing facility being used, a transport control method for controlling the transport means,
A predetermined weighting is applied to each of the standby time of each transported object at each time point, the load state of the transport destination processing device of each transported object, and the entire load state within the transport area of each transported object, Calculate the priority of the transfer process of the transferred object,
Based on the calculation result, it is determined which of the objects to be transported should be transported to which processing apparatus, and the transporting unit is controlled based on the determination. Control method. Furthermore, each of the load states of the transfer source processing device and the load state of each transfer means of each transfer object is given a predetermined weight, and the priority of transfer processing of each transfer object is calculated. The transport control method according to claim 8. 10. The transport control according to claim 8, wherein one weighting pattern is registered, and the weighting is changed by changing a value in the weighting pattern according to a situation in the transport area. Method. The conveyance control method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein a plurality of weighting patterns are registered, the weighting pattern is selected according to the situation in the conveyance area, and the weight is varied.

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